Mr_Shine74 Reviews

V/H/S/2 (2013)

An improvement on the first VHS film!

[7/10 · 21 June 2013]

Wow, what a contrast this film is with the first one! Most found-footage films I've seen have always had me wondering why the hell the people in the films are bothering to carry video cameras around and record the events that are unfolding around them as they run for their lives, this one is different, every use of a camera has been cleverly thought out and explained, from a camera mounted on a mountain bikers helmet to a documentary crew with button cameras, and even a bionic prosthetic eye, the intelligence that the film makers put it into this has made this into one of the best ff films I've had the pleasure of watching.

In comparison to the first V/H/S film I thought this one was a whole lot more mature, the stories were more believable and well written, the excellent sequence from a zombies perspective was hilarious and gory and by far my favourite, I'm not sure if it was meant to be funny, but if it was it worked brilliantly.

In V/H/S 1 there wasn't much said about the video tapes, only that they were found, someone wanted them and that they contained some pretty freaky stuff, this time I think the film makers have realised that they could have a gold mine hiding within the urban legend of the tapes, and have started to play on this legend a little more, and I think if they continue down the path they have ahead of them, expanding on the legend, keeping the intelligent use of cameras and smart reasons behind the tapes discovery for each film, then they could have a franchise as successful as the Saw franchise.

Here's hoping! More reviews at http://stuarthine.worpress.com

Maniac (2012)

Maniac: Looking through the Eyes of a Killer

[8/10 · 21 June 2013]

Based on an an earlier film of the same name, Maniac tells the story of Frank (played brilliantly by Elijah Wood), a mannequin restorer who is also a psychotic serial killer who likes to scalp his female victims. Sound like your typical slasher flick? I thought that to but I was curious to see how Wood would handle a role like this giving that the last role I saw him in involved big hairy feet, so, I was sceptical that this would work.

Boy I was surprised, not just by Woods performance as this psychotic killer with social problems and huge a huge mummy complex, but also by the style of the film. I've never seen the original, so I don't know if it adopted a similar style, but the director (Franck Khalfoun) chose to take us on the journey through this film primarily using a first-person style, so 90% of the films horrific events were seen, by us, through Franks eyes! maniac1 This for me was a unique experience, I found myself fully connecting with Frank, which was disturbing to say the least since, well, he's a psychopath. At times I was hoping beyond hope that he'd turn away from whatever depraved path he was heading down, other times I found myself fascinated, in a sickening way, at the insight of how a predator like Frank hunts his victims. All very disturbing, well done to whoever thought of this idea.

Frank eventually meets a beautiful young French photographer called Anna (Nora Arnezeder) who has a similar interest in mannequins, through this interest they strike up a friendship, which from the outside would look nice. But remember we have the inside view, we see how Franks mind works, and because of this I was hoping that Anna would bring a ray of sunshine to Frank, a way out of the horrific life he has created. I'd love to be able to tell you if he does find a way or not, but that'd be spoiling things.

So, as a final little sum up, I have to say this film was disturbingly fascinating, it sucks you in and totally hooks you. Brilliantly filmed, with a brilliant cast…go watch…experience life through the eyes of a psychopath! More reviews on http://stuarthine.wordpress.com

23 Minutes to Sunrise (2012)

Nighthawks with a twist

[7/10 · 7 June 2013]

I have absolutely no other reason for choosing to watch this little film other than it sounded interesting…I love talky films where you Know something is up but you just can't figure out what, and this film pulls that off perfectly.

The film starts off filling in a little back story of all the characters, how they end up being at the diner, and establishing just enough of their characters as we need to set the scene.

And onto the scene, set in a pretty standard diner in American, in the early hours of the morning, almost puts me in mind of that painting "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper, put in the present day, maybe that's where writer/director Jay Kanzler picked up his core inspiration? So that's the scene set, now the players.

Working the night shift in the diner we have the chef (Eddie, a young War Vet played by Dingani Beza) and the waitress (Sheila, played Jilanne Klaus), the patrons include a middle aged couple trying to fix a struggling marriage, a young couple who are on the edge of a crime spree, and our mysterious couple, an older man, who has no regard for others (Played by Eric Roberts) and younger girl, who has a secret (Played by Nia Peeples) Now all these characters all have their own story lines through most of this film, they occasionally play off each other but they are essentially separate, and all the little stories are interesting to see play out, all the while establishing their characters. Then we have the the mysterious couple, I can't say much about them without giving the story away but it's clear from early on that there is something more than normal happening within their little story.

Now this is a short film, only 1 hour and 18 minutes long, but I'm thankful for that, I really think writer/director Kanzler got the length of this movie perfect for all the different characters to develop and their stories to fill out and eventually converge in what I felt was a really powerful and intense ending.

A very well written, stylish, and for the most part, well acted film, why I say "for the most part" is because there were a few scenes that I felt either the acting talent was wavering, or they were struggling with a line that could be seen by some folks as being a little bit corny. Now don't let this put you off the film, as I said, it was well acted for the most part, and having one or two cringes for the occasional corny line is worth it to see how the full story plays out.

Well worth a watch by the talky fans out there.

Way Down in Chinatown (2014)

It's all about the worms!

[10/10 · 1 May 2013]

I've seen some weird movies in my time, most of them forgettable (proven by the fact that right now I can't name one example), but this film has to be one of the weirdest films ever, and I wont be forgetting it any time soon. The main reason it's going to be so unforgettable isn't the weirdness, but because I came away from watching it feeling pretty damn disturbed by some of the characters I was introduced to (and in some cases, not introduced to at all) who live Way Down In China Town, the team who put this film together certainly succeeded in their mission if it was to leave the viewer disturbed.

So, in summary, this film, visually and audibly weird, disturbing, confusing and bloody brilliant! As for the worms? Don't ask…spoilers :P